CarriageMan represents the Brass Guard, a task squad assembled by BrassMan of the head family to be called in for specialized missions. The specific duty of CarriageMan, as given by BrassMan, is to help escort unoperated navis in known danger zones from point A to point B. These zones are restricted from travel due to numerous mafia encounters, but there's always a few people who somehow slip through the barriers and end up wandering along these paths. It is CarriageMan's duty to get them through quickly, especially if they are unoperated, so that they will not come into harm by the mafia.
Unbeknown to CarriageMan and the two navis he has picked up for escort on this particular evening, the grassy stretch of Netfrica that they have chosen to navigate is a terrible example of "being in the wrong place at the wrong time." The assistant leader of the Bloodhounds, a mafia family known for their policies of violence, has chosen to stalk out into Netfrica to blow off some steam after facing new opposition from Kismet, a Head Family operative. The encounter of the two parties will end in disaster...
The steady clop of CarriageMan's hooves echoed across the open land as he transported his precious cargo of lost navis across the area. CarriageMan was a strong navi, gentle looking at first but dependably built. He wore the suit of a carriage driver, but his lower half was like that of a horse and he himself actually dragged along his own bus as he moved across the net. He lived to serve and was very good at his job, traveling quickly while making light conversation to keep his allies at ease. His good-natured face laughed back to all of their jokes and responded easily to all of their questions. However, CarriageMan was currently plagued by an incessant, nagging thought...
As the trip had begun, he'd asked the navis if they couldn't simply jack out. When they replied that their jack-out function wasn't working, he'd simply taken them for unoperated navis and he'd dropped the issue to avoid probing into a sensitive subject. However, things weren't meshing together... these two navis seemed well-bred and looked to be in a healthy state. Usually unoperated navis roaming around Netfrica would be haggard from virus attacks or at least show sings of having fought. "If it don't gel, it ain't jello. This ain't gellin'," he thought to himself quietly as he proceeded onward, taking in the night air to clear his head.
"Eh, I don't wanna upset y'folks too much, 'f course, but if'n you don't mind my askin', how long have y'two been seperated from your ops?" he asked in a gentle voice, tipping his hat politely as he addressed the two behind him. The navis gave him an answer that sent chills down his spine. Good-naturedly, they replied that he was mistaken; they were indeed operated, but the jack-out function on their operator's PETs did not seem to be functional. A lump rose in his throat and he sped up his trot slightly. "I see, my mistake. If ya'll don't mind too much, I'm gonna pick up my speed just a bit here. Gettin awful dark to be towing y'all and I'm sure you wanna get through here quick. Hang on to somethin', okay?" he requested with his good-natured drawl, picking up his speed a little more than he'd implied he would.
The sounds of viruses nearby frightened the passengers, but that wasn't what worried CarriageMan at all. He felt confident of his ability to take on Netfrica's virus population. What worried him was the lack of jack-out capability. The only explanation that came readily to mind...
A silhouetted figure stood in the middle of the road ahead of him. "Netmafia!" The word rang through his head clearly. Images flashed before his eyes of Libertine, DimensionMan's former protege who was destroyed by Netmafia members just a short while ago. He was in a similar situation to her: suited to his purpose, but not at all capable of holding himself together against a trained mafia operative. What would happen to his passengers if they attacked? Hoping for a miracle, he let out a slow greeting. "Hey there, stranger. Need a lift?"
"Yeah, I guess I could use a pick me up, if that's okay with you,"[font=rockwell][/font] the voice snickered in a hostile way. The navi's gold armor shone more clearly as he approached, along with the sweat on her bronzed skin. His eyes darted to craters... giant craters! Craters were dotting the landscape, as if meteors had been hitting it. As he saw the marks on the navi's fists, and knees, he realized that she'd been making them herself simply attacking viruses in this part of the net. "How about it, huh? You wanna help me blow off some steam? There's not really much good to be had out of these viruses, you know. They just don't... crunch the way I like,"[font=rockwell][/font] she smiled, licking her thick lips hungrily.
"Don't want no trouble, ma'am. I'm just moving these guys through. If you're a Mafia recruiter, you aren't gonna get these guys without goin' through me. I should warn you, ma'am, that I'm a trained member of the Brass Guard," he responded defensively, thinking desperately how he could get his cargo away so that they could escape mafia recruitment.
"Ha ha ha! Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Recruitment he says, that's beautiful! Do I look like Creel to you?"[font=rockwell][/font] the woman guffawed, moving closer so that he could now see the full detail of her hulking, unfeminine form. "No luck, Buck. I'm a Bloodhound. An angry one! Recruitment, that stuff's not for me. I'd rather take a more... preventive approach, you know? Figure, if I knock off a few potential Netpolice recruits, that's just as good as getting some for the Mafia, right?"[font=rockwell][/font]
"Ma'am, I am not recruiting these navis. They're travelers. I'm just helping them get across Netfrica. If you let me get them through, I'll come back and we can fight all ya' like," he responded bravely, his legs kicking in an antsy way as he tried to figure out what to do. If he had to, he figured, he would sacrifice himself for them. Best case scenario, maybe he and they could both move past her and escape.
"You got horse-meat in that head of yours, boy? I'm not giving you that option. All three of you, come on. I want all of you to attack me,"[font=rockwell][/font] she laughed, beating her chest in a taunting way and baring her fangs. "Come on. Come on!"[font=rockwell][/font] she roared again, as the navi trotted back and forth, unsure of how to proceed.
"I don't know what's going to happen here, folks, but here's your best bet: I'm going to detach my carriage SP here and kick it down the side of that hill. It's a microburst, ought to give you guys enough distance so you can escape. I'll hold her off here as long as I can. Once you get out there, you folks better just run. Don't look back," he whispered, his voice choking up as he realized that his inevitable deletion was close at hand. Not giving the navis time to argue or ask further questions, he engaged the plan, detaching his SP and giving it a hard kick down the hill.
Bullrun simply laughed, crossing her arms across her chest and glaring at him in a judgmental way. "You really do have horse-meat up there, huh? Three against one might have made this go a little better for you. Now I'm gonna give you the benefit of my whole attention. Let's see how much that horse body of yours can take, eh?"[font=rockwell][/font] she cackled, adopting a grappler's pose.
As steeled as he was, CarriageMan wasn't content to die if he didn't have to. He figured the best way to proceed would be to try to last long enough so that some kind of backup from the Brass Guard could come and rescue him. At the same time, he had to keep Bullrun occupied so that she could not escape to attack the civilians. "Remember, these legs ain't just for trottin!" he cried out, turning and thrusting his legs up towards Bullrun's face. Before he could land the hit, however, she threw her cape backwards, then disappeared into it with a sinister cackle.
A split second later, she appeared behind him, breaking into a dive with both of her knees extended. "I'll show you a real kick, Seabiscuit!"[font=rockwell][/font] she cried with joy, smashing into his human back with her armored knees. CarriageMan let out a cry of pain as the terrible snapping of bones, Bullrun's favorite sound, reverberated across the landscape. Wincing, he attempted a kick with his hind legs, determined not to give up the fight yet. Bullrun laughed, grabbing both legs in the loop of her right arm. "This is a battle chip called Counter. Bet you wish you had one, huh?"[font=rockwell][/font] she said with a smirk, bringing her elbow down hard on his legs. The effect wasn't just bone's snapping; in a burst of data, the legs fully severed from his body, collapsing his hind quarters onto the ground in a grotesque fashion.
"Look, there we go! Now you're a normal guy like the rest of us, huh? Two arms and two legs!"[font=rockwell][/font] she taunted him, showing him the severed horse legs and then throwing them into the distance. He was in too much pain to retort; all he could think about was how badly he wished he could EJO, almost like he was begging for a quicker death. Bullrun was happy to grant his wish, but only in the way that would give her the most satisfaction possible. "You've got a real pretty face, boy. Shoulda worked on getting stronger and we might have been able to have some real fun. This way... It's a little one-sided, huh?"[font=rockwell][/font] she asked, grinning into his face to show her pleasure.
The time had come for her coup de grace: the Falling Suplex. Grabbing his feebly resisting remaining two legs, she flipped him upside down against his will, then threw him upwards a bit. She latched her arms around his waist so that his head dangled pitifully, almost touching the ground. His hat had long since fallen off, revealing his handsome brown hair, now disheveled and covered in his red data, spilled after his head had impacted with the ground. For all intents and purposes, he was already dead. Letting out a yell that was mixed ecstasy and rage, she fell backwards with him, allowing his body to smash against the ground with enough impact to create a crater, similar to those he'd spotted just minutes earlier. The hit shattered what remained of the navi's data, causing his form to rise into a wispy cloud of bits and then disperse into the night sky.
Bullrun couldn't exactly say her full stress was gone, but at least she felt a little bit better. Stretching her arms and giggling to herself, she surveyed the landscape and gave a brief thought to the two she'd let escape earlier. "Ah, doesn't really matter, I guess. Anyways, I'd better live up this cop-killing thing while I still can. If that little midget and that giant, floating dildo have their way, I'm not going to get to have any fun for a while,"[font=rockwell][/font] she sighed, scratching the back of her sweaty hair with one large hand as she dispersed the jack-out barrier around the area and leaving through her red cape.