His footsteps leave ripples in the thin layer of water pooling on the sidewalks, his raincoat swaying in the faint breeze. Azraq reaches his destination, a nondescript club at the corner of an intersection, called Junior's Club. He notices the yellow motorcycle parked in the middle of the street, rather odd, but he supposes they could just be in a hurry.
The music from before is louder now; he can hear it clearly. He enters the building with echoing steps, walking past an empty hallway up to automated doors that open silently. As soon as the doors slid open, the music hit him full force, drowning all other noise, and his eyes took in the scenery.
The door opens into a large hall, with staircases leading down into a large dance floor full of people at the center of the room. Four pillars stand at the corners of the square dance floor. To the left and right are staircases leading into private rooms. At the far end of the hall, staircases lead to a raised platform, where the DJ is playing music from his stand. To the left is a long bar, several bartenders working to man each section as patrons sit on stools and drink the night away. Stage lights dominate the ceiling, shining down to create an oddly bright environment, everything glowing in white and black tones.
It's then that Azraq notices a crowd has formed on the dance floor, every single member is wearing red sunglasses and a black suit, surrounding two people. One is a blonde woman with a wild mane of hair, a brown shirt, and a yellow croptop, complete with biking shorts and a utility belt, along with some sort of gauntlets. Directly across from her is a round middle-aged man with a black vest and white shirt, complete with a red tie and sunglasses. Azraq confusedly looks on at the scene, noticing that the two appear to be leaning in for…a kiss?
Seconds after he reaches that conclusion, the woman punches the man and sends him flying towards Azraq. Slightly surprised, Azraq reflexively dodges the projectile, watching with bewilderment as the man bounces and slams into the wall, a wine bottle bonking his head.
Suddenly, he notices every person in the room staring at him. Azraq clears his throat and announces with a slightly awkward tone, "Say, you guys wouldn't happen to know where Bleecker Street is, do you?"
Everyone is stunned into silence before one of the men shouts, "He's with her!" This spurs the rest of them into motion as they pull out fire axes and begin to surround the blonde woman. The rest of the mundane crowd begins shouting as they run away; meanwhile, a group of the goons split off to confront Azraq.
"Well, this is quite inconvenient. If I say I didn't know her, would you believe me?"
One of the goons stops and puts a hand to his chin as if to think about it, before he can say anything, another slaps the back of his head before responding, "Of course not!"
"Damn. Oh well, surely Glynda can't blame me for this one." Azraq shrugs before flipping open his raincoat, revealing the armor underneath and the Khopesh at his waist. He shrugs the shield at his back onto his arm and unclips the sword, holding it out to the side with the shield in front. "Better hope your employee benefits include health insurance."
The goons then rush forward, raising their axes high before swinging them down on Azraq. He shuffles just out of their range, letting the axes slam into the ground, jarring their hands, before darting forward and swinging the Khopesh. A glint of silver flashes through their vision before a line of red separates their thumb from their hand. The axes clatter to the ground as the goons fall to the ground in agony, clutching the bleeding appendages.
Azraq turns to look at the blonde woman, watching as she dives down and pounds the ground, an explosion bursting into the floor. His mind immediately analyzes the weapon, 'Based on the noise, it appears to be some sort of explosive slug, likely fire dust. The gauntlet has one barrel facing out. She appears to use the gauntlets as both a ranged option and a force amplifier. How does that work?' Azraq refocuses when he notices another group charging at him, believing Azraq the safer option as opposed to the woman throwing around explosive shells.
He sighs before rushing forward to meet them. This group coordinates better than the last one. Four goons form a line as the rest go around to flank Azraq. The four each swing at different angles to each other in order to ensure at least one lands. As Azraq runs forward, he feels a click in his mind, a glow flashing from his spine. The next second, he grins as the world turns green.
Everything instantly slows down, moving as if in slow motion, everything except Azraq. He calmly steps forward, afterimages in different shades of green trail him as the goon's eyes begin to widen in alarm. Azraq swiftly circles the near motionless group, Khopesh carving tendons as he passes each foe. He stops once behind the group and turns to inspect his work as time speeds back to normal.
Spurts of blood fly from every single goon in the group, seven in total, as they double over, clutching their arms and legs as blood pools out from their wounds. Azraq whistles as he sees a goon fly over him; evidently, the girl has been having an easy time, too. He begins walking in her direction when his nose twitches. He turns to a closed door to the right of the arena, sensing two people walking in their direction.
At the same time, the blonde woman rushes at the DJ, who pulls out a rifle and begins spraying the dance floor with no regard for his comrades. She dodges before flying up with the help of her gauntlets, quickly slamming one shell into him before landing.
She turns to look down at the dance hall and sees two girls, twins, staring down at her unknown helper. The two girls are wearing different outfits, one girl in a white dress and makeup with bladed heels, the other in a red and black dress and makeup with clawed gauntlets.
The clawed twin speaks first, "Who are these people?" followed by her sister, "I don't know, but I call dibs on the cute guy."
"Aww, no fair."
"What-ever, let's teach them a lesson."
The bladed twin then jumps at Azraq, heels swinging to slam his weapon away. He deflects with his shield, but she manages to catch the edge with the tip of her heel blade. The girl then uses the grip as leverage to bring her other leg swinging over the shield in an axe kick, aiming to slam it into Azraq's temple.
He dodges the swing before pushing forward with his shield to send the girl flying back. Azraq then rushes forward, aiming for a shield bash. The girl dodges, as expected, which he capitalizes on by swinging with his Khopesh. The girl flips upside down, using her hands to steady herself as she parries with her other heel blade. She then flips back upright before swinging her legs down in a low kick, aiming to sweep Azraq. He checks the attack, but she switches legs before completing the motion and goes for an axe kick at his unguarded side.
Azraq raises his shield, catching the kick head on, while being careful to prevent her from locking his shield again. He then lifts her leg even higher to keep her off balance, while swinging with his sword at her neck. She crouches while stretching her leg higher, before flipping backwards, swinging her planted foot upwards towards Azraq's chin. He dodges by ducking backwards and takes his stance just as she rushes in again. The girl executes a body kick, which he blocks with his shield, before she switches legs and kicks him again. She swings two more kicks before leaping back to regain her balance.
Azraq doesn't pursue and takes the opportunity to check on the other twin. The blonde woman is keeping the clawed woman in her range through clever use of shotgun blasts to force movement. Suddenly, he feels another click, as a flash lights up his spine for a split second.
Azraq suddenly shouts out at his battle partner, "Hey, blondie! Punch in front of you in three seconds!"
Once he sees the girl nod, he turns back to his opponent in time to spot her side kick piercing right towards his neck. He quickly ducks while mentally counting down. Right as the time hits zero, he swings his hands together, a clap cutting through the sound of battle.
The same instant his hands connect, the blonde woman and Azraq switch places. Azraq quickly raises his shield, blocking the girl's claws as she reflexively swings at the suddenly different opponent. A shotgun blast then distracts her as she can hear the sound of her sister grunting in pain. Azraq flinches as several more blasts sound out, making him realize his former opponent got caught in a combo, 'Damn, that's gotta hurt.'
The clawed girl begins quickly pressing him with long sweeping arcs, forcing Azraq to block each blow with his shield. Right before she can launch another combination, Azraq seizes the break in attacks to launch one of his own. His khopesh slices upwards, aiming to carve a line across her abdomen, but she hurriedly blocks with her claws, catching the blade in between the fingers. Azraq grins as he mentally comments, 'God, I love this part.' He then rotates the khopesh using the hook of the blade to grip the claws and yank the twin forward and off-balance. He turns the khopesh again, before snapping two of the claws apart by leveraging her weight and his weapon. The twin leaps backwards, staring at her broken claws in disbelief before glaring at Azraq. She rushes forward, other claw outstretched.
Azraq refocuses on the clawed twin as he feels something recharge. With a smile, he reaches inside of him and slams down on a button. The world bleeds into green once more as everyone clocks down to slow motion except himself. He then quickly moves to her back, after images in his wake, before slamming down the hilt of his khopesh onto her skull. He watches as her eyes slowly close, her body beginning to buckle in slow motion.
Once he confirms her incapacitation, time speeds back up just in time for his nose to catch another living being show up. He turns to find the round man who attempted to kiss the blonde standing on a raised platform, loading what appears to be a rocket launcher. Azraq looks back at the blonde's fight and sees the white dressed twin collapse to the floor. He rushes over to the blonde just as the man begins aiming, sliding to a stop in front of her. He feels another click, his spine's glow catching the blonde's attention. He quickly alerts her to his plan, "Let me handle the projectiles."
Azraq takes a drawing stance with his khopesh, facing the man with the rocket launcher. Missiles fly in his direction the next second, he waits half a heartbeat before swinging his sword, right as they come in contact with his blade, he activates his ability. The missiles explode, but the blast seems to flip directions as the shockwave and flames rush through the air back at the man. He fails to react to the unexpected turnaround and is engulfed by the flames, the shockwave moving through him and shattering the windows as he is sent flying into the wall.
The blonde woman whistles as she watches the spectacle, a wide smile on her face as Azraq turns to face her.
"Handsome and strong, you're just the full package, aren't ya!"
Azraq simply sighs as he takes in the surrounding damage, he hears a couple of goons groan in pain from when they were hit with a shotgun slug. Making him sigh again. "Well, I suppose it could be worse. So, given they probably aren't going to be telling me anything anytime soon…you wouldn't happen to be able to give me directions, would ya?"
The blonde's jaw drops as she exclaims, "It was really about directions?! I thought that was just an excuse to look cool and help a hottie like me!"
"No, I really am lost. And it seems everyone else in this neighborhood is asleep, so I had to go here, and then I got ambushed by a bunch of strangers for a girl I'd never seen before."
The woman looks a bit remorseful as he awkwardly laughs and apologizes, "Ehehehe, sorry about that. But hey, you got to meet a total baddie, so I wouldn't say the night's a total bust!"
Azraq smiles mirthfully as he responds, "I suppose so, though introductions would be nice. I'm Azraq, Azraq Akulov. A pleasure to meet a 'total hottie like you'"
"Heh, you aren't so bad yourself, Romeo. I'm Yang Xiao Long. Pleasure to meetcha."
A sudden shout cuts through their conversation, right as a black-red haired girl in a red hood comes running into the club. "Yaaaaaaaannng!" As soon as the girl spots the blonde, she quickly looks around before face-palming as she comments, "A bar fight again?! Didn't you learn your lesson last time Dad grounded you?"
"Your sister, I presume," Azraq comments with an amused smile on his face as the girl suddenly notices him and ducks behind Yang.
Yang drags the girl in front of her and introduces her, "This is Ruby, my sister. Ruby, say hi."
The girl shyly hides her face under her hood as she squeaks out, "H-hi, I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose."
Azraq smiles and says hi, "Nice to meet you, Ruby. I'm Azraq."
Yang then addresses Azraq again as she invites him out for more fun, "So what's cookin' good lookin'? You up for a night of fun? This place was a wash, but I know some other good bars…"
"Yang! You're supposed to be home by now! Do you know how late it is?!" Ruby cuts in with an exasperated voice. "Besides, aren't you going to Beacon in a couple of days? What if you get detained again? You're eighteen now, it'll be a lot more serious!"
"Alright, alright, gotta listen to my baby sis. Seems like I'll have to take a rain check, Az." Yang ruffles Ruby's head as she squawks in indignation. "Yaaaaaaang! Not my hair!"
Azraq grins at their antics before repeating his earlier question, "It's fine, I should be getting home soon anyway. My mom is gonna grill me if I'm home too late. Speaking of home, do either of you know how to get to Bleecker Street from here?"
Yang smiles before pulling out her scroll. She waves it as she smoothly asks, "Yeah, I've gotcha, let me get your number so I can send it to ya."
Azraq pulls out his own scroll and shares his information with Yang. He saves her under Wild Child, and peeks at her scroll to see himself labelled under SuperHunk#7. He smiles wryly before putting away his scroll. The trio walks out of the club and parts ways, Ruby settling in behind Yang as they ride off into the darkness. Azraq pulls up his raincoat hood before beginning his trek back home, mind reviewing his actions in his recent battle.