(Un)Friendly Favours

Missions:

Malik awoke from his slumber to the sounds of snoring, it took him a moment to adjust to the fact that he was sleeping in a bed, as opposed to a tree in the wilderness. It was an unusual sensation, he had spent so much time living outdoors that he had forgotten what it felt like to do this. It almost felt alien to him, and for a short while he was craving the old comforts. But then he rolled over and realised he was not falling off the side of a large branch. Ahh yes… this is definitely much better, I could get used to this feeling… He even had a blanket to stay warm in, although he rarely felt the cold anyway. Malik got to do something that he was rarely ever afforded the opportunity to do, he got to sleep in. The Manga Town Inn seemed to be a pretty swell place…

After another half hour of snoozing, Malik finally forced himself out of bed. The alarm clock signalled that it was only 5am, early for most but almost an hour later than he would usually rise. This comfort is going to make me sloppy, that could definitely get me killed in the future… Rising, the mountainous man made his way to his rented ensuite bathroom. He took his time to freshen up, taking a considerably long and hot shower, hot water was not a luxury he was afforded in the wild. When he was satisfied that he had pampered himself enough, Malik finally got dressed.

He wore his usual loose white tracksuit pants and thin white shoes. However, he actually wore a shirt for once, opting for a loose linen button up shirt. He could not do up every button as they did not find a shirt big enough to accommodate his size, but this was the best that could be done. He had been told by the innkeeper that his usual shirtless attire would not go down well in the town, so Malik had given in and dressed appropriately. For this, the innkeeper had even thrown in a discount for his rent. A shirt for cheap sleeps sounded very good to the large man.

The innkeeper’s name was Bartos, a portly man with a twirly little moustache. He would practically bounce when he moved around, having a perpetual skip in his step. It seemed to lift the mood whenever he was around people. He had even managed to pull a smile or two out of Malik at times, by no means and easy feat. His wife, Theresa, was a slim and sultry woman, who seemed obsessed with the Missing Nin. She would always grab his arms or rub his shoulders when she spoke to him. Bartos appeared to pay no mind to this, chalking it up to her being a touchy person, Malik did not think this was the case, but said nothing.

Malik’s room was quite cramped for a man of his size, he had to duck his head to get in and out of the door. Bartos had ensured that he gave him the largest best possible, in reality it was two king size beds pushed together. This took up most of the room’s space, but it worked well for Malik, he spent very little time in there aside from sleeping and showering. The room itself was in the basement of the establishment, therefore it was always cool. A fairly strong aroma of ale and sake could be smelt in the hallway leading to his front door. The cellars being positioned just around the corner. After being satisfied with his appearance and feeling fresh from his long shower, Malik decided to head upstairs.

The Manga Town Inn was somehow still going strong at this time, it was not a work day today so people were continuing to drink and party from the night before. Malik was grateful of the thick stones that separated him and his room from the noise of the bar. It was incredibly loud on the ground floor, the Inn was the only tavern in Manga Town, so it got quite busy on nights like this. Most of the adult male population would have visited at some point tonight. The clientele had a very “macho masculine” feel to it, many of them quickly gaining some liquid courage after a few minutes at the venue. Therefore it was very common for the Manga Town Inn to be the unwilling host of various physical altercations. Malik liked a good scrap as much as the next guy, but it was quite tiring to watch grown men act like children and letting their hormones take control. Bartos especially hated it, despising the effect it had on business and his Inn’s reputation.

Speaking of Bartos, Malik noticed the stout man pouring large pints for a group of older men at the bar. He began to walk over, most people quickly shuffling out of the way of the large man to let him through. One perk to Malik’s build was that not many people would stand in his way. Bartos waved when he saw the large man approaching, gesturing for him to take a seat at the bar. “Malik! Good to see you mate. I hope the room has been treating you well? I am truly sorry I could not get a bigger bed, I hope it is still alright?” Bartos worked for the local crime boss, Pal Pacino, who had instructed the Innkeeper to treat Malik well. He had performed a couple of very important jobs for the crime boss recently, as well sorting out the issue of a dried up water supply along the way. It paid to know powerful, it paid even more when those people liked you and found you valuable…

Malik’s deep voice rumbled in response, “The room is fine, thank you Bartos. It is the largest bed that I have slept in before, I do not expect much more in that regard. There is no need to apologise for it.” He was calm as he spoke, the innkeeper meant well, but he could also get on Malik’s nerves at times. Sometimes he was just a little bit too intense for the larger man’s liking. But he WAS generous, his boss had told him to treat Malik well, and he had been doing just that. “The usual this morning? I know you just woke up but it is never to early for a hot sake!” With a little grin, Malik nodded and Bartos went around the back to heat up some sake for him.

Taking this time to look around, Malik noticed just how busy the venue was this morning. Each booth, table and bench was full. There were at least a couple of hundred people in the venue, including on the second floor that could be seen from below. It was a very wild western styled Inn, with a revolving door and all at the entrance. Unfortunately, the noise was not all fun and laughter. Malik observed as he heard a dispute near the entrance. Paying more attention, he witness as a group of seven drunken fools were arguing with a smaller group. Something about one of the smaller group’s people bumping into the rowdier group. It was the usual elementary school bs, the ego that some people had was outrageous here. Any excuse to use some violence and they would be set off, it was pathetic. At least Malik tried his best to stay calm in these situations, he knew how strong he was and the garage he could cause to others…

More people began to notice the verbal altercation taking place. Some sneaking looks, others just blatantly watching, and some other fools even egging the rowdy group on further. Malik rolled his eyes, the idiots that tried to push people into fights were some of his least favourite. Especially considering these people would not be caught dead in a fight themselves, usually they were just a bunch of weaklings. He turned around when he heard Bartos returning, a generously sized bottle of hot sake with steam coming from it in tow. He put the bottle down between them and grabbed two ceramic shot glasses. “Now I can’t let you have all the fun alone, can I?” He chuckled as he poured them both a shot, both men grabbed one each and gave a cheers before quickly downing the drinks. Malik loved the sensation of hot sake, its warmth essentially revitalising him, the great taste helped too. Bartos’ good mood was shattered when he witnessed the altercation at the door.

“OI YOU BASTARDS, SHUT IT AND GET OUT OF BAR!” He was shaking a fist at the rowdy group, the portly man was usually very chipper, but now he was going red with rage. The onlookers all cheered him on as he spoke up, but Bartos paid them no mind. “NOW, GO ON BEFORE I GET YOUR WIVES TO KICK YOUR ASSES!” The cheers turned to laughs as the rowdy group left, furious at the humiliation but knowing better than to start problems with such a well connected innkeeper. Bartos settled down and returned to his usual skin tone when they left, he gave a sigh and poured himself and Malik a second shot each. “I swear you never know what you are going to get with these out of towners. You turned out great, but you are a dime in a dozen.” They gave another cheers and drank once more, savouring the flavour again.

The two of them continued to share a cheers as the night (morning) dragged on, Bartos would leave to serve drinks to other customers, before returning and having another. The two would share jokes and get progressively more intoxicated over time. Finally, Malik noticed something a little bit unusual, “Bart, where is Theresa? I have not seen her since I arrived. Is everything alright with her?” Bartos seemed quite dismissive about it all, apparently he was not too concerned. “Theresa is fine, she said she was not feeling well last night so I gave her the night off. She should be back at home sleeping, I will go by the pharmacy to get her some supplies when I close up for today. Speaking of, it is going to be final call for drink in about 30 minutes.” The two of them agreed to continue with another hot sake bottle for the last half hour of drinking.

Suddenly, the two of them heard aggressive yelling and screaming coming from outside. Running to the entrance, Malik and Bartos passed through the swinging doors to see the two groups from earlier fighting each other. It was seven against four, and the seven were winning. One man especially was getting attacked viciously by three of the group, his head getting kicked and stomped on by the other men. “You absolute fools, you are going to drive away my customers! Stop this nonsense NOW!” This time, the group did not comply, one of the rowdy idiots actually flipping Bartos off and spitting at his feet. Enraged, the innkeeper turned to Malik, “Alright I have had enough. Get rid of these idiots and I will pay you for it. Do whatever it takes, I do not care if you kill them, although that may cause problems for you in the village. Just deal with them please!” Bartos stormed back inside the Inn as Malik nodded and cracked his knuckles, it was time to teach these punks a lesson.

Walking directly behind the group of three bullies, all of whom were still kicking and stomping on the lone man on the ground, Malik grabbed the left and right most men be their heads. Swiftly and with great force, he smashed them both into either side of the head of the third man in the middle. There was a sickening crunch that seemed to indicate that at least one of them had a fracture or break in his skull. The men in the middle and right were both instantly knocked unconscious. The man on the left dropped to the floor also, but his eyes were still open, albeit incredibly glazed over. He began to try and rise, but a swift kick to the side of his head put him to sleep also. Three down, four to go…

The other four in the rowdy group had not yet noticed their comrades’ swift defeat, each of them had their backs to him. Shrugging, Malik noticed that there was another situation of two on one. There were two of the bullies throwing jabs and haymakers at another man curled up against the side of the Inn. He had his arms in front of his head to try and block as much of the damage as possible, although he would not last long. Malik grabbed one of the assailants by the back of his neck, he then lifted him up and slammed him down into the ground, face first. His friend quickly turned and then attempted to swing at the larger man, his fist making contact with Malik’s chest, although he did not budge an inch. With a twisted smile, Malik grabbed the man by the wrist he used to strike. The man began to panic as he could not pull away, the panic turned into a shriek of terror as his arm was snapped in two, the bone being crushed under the force of Malik’s enormous hand.

There were only two assailants left, by now they had both noticed what had happened to the rest of their group. One of them was ready to come at him at full force, but his other friend looked like he was about to piss on himself. Clearly only one of them had any sort of brain, not that it would matter, Malik was going to crush them both. Deciding he wanted to teach the arrogant one some fear, he went after the wimp first instead. Dash forward at a speed too fast for the normal villagers to keep up with, Malik grabbed the scared one by the front of his face. His entire hand covered the man’s whole face, not allowing for any air to enter his nose or mouth. The man began to squirm and made a muffled scream as he tried to get out of Malik’s grasp. To no avail. The arrogant friend tried pull him away, but he was nothing in comparison to the larger man’s strength. He watched as his useless friend’s body went limp, passing out due to a lack of oxygen.

Dropping his latest victim to the ground, who landed with a sickening thump, Malik finally turned his attention to the seventh man of the group. He realised that they had a bit of an audience for this encounter. Most of the people from the inn had come outside to watch him teach the fools a lesson. Even after his recent brutality, they were still cheering him on. He had a feeling this would not last much longer, however. “Any last words, fool?” Malik was playing with his food at this point, the arrogance in the man’s eyes had been replaced with absolute terror. He had broken the man’s mind, next he would break his body. “Come now, I will give you one chance. Hit me with your best strike, I will not move, if you can knock me to the ground I will let you leave. If you can’t though, I will break your bac-” Malik was cut off by the man punching him in the face as hard as he could.

How bravado flies out the window when you fight a man twice your size. Malik had not moved at all after the punch, the fist had gone straight to his mouth, hiding his grin at first. When the man had realised just how little of a chance he stood, he began to slowly back away. But there was no escaping this now, every time he stepped back, Malik would step forward. The larger man making more space due to the difference in their legs. The man would turn to run, however, this would turn out to be a brutal mistake. Malik grabbed him by the back of his neck, however unlike with the other man, this time he raised him above his head in a military press styled hold.

His right hand grabbing the man by the neck and his left hand grabbing the back of the man’s pants, he slowly turned around in a circle, giving every spectator the opportunity to witness what was happening. “Let it be known, this is the only outcome for those who choose to cause trouble at the Manga Town Inn. I will show no mercy to anyone who messes with Bartos’ establishment. I warned him I would do this, but he still chose to try and test me. Now he suffers the consequences.” The man gasped as Malik suddenly pulled him down at breakneck speed, his back landing directly onto Malik’s knee. A sickening crunch sounded as the man’s spine cracked over his knee, the entire crowd jumped back and cringed. The man was screaming at the top of his lungs, until he finally passed out from the pain. Observing his handy work, Malik was satisfied that he had completed his job, he walked back into the tavern.


As Malik re-entered the Manga Town Inn, he saw a red faced Bartos at the bar, a young boy appeared to be giving him some incredibly bad news. Slowly walking up to the bar, he saw Bartos angrily give the boy some ryo and say his thanks, before sending him away. The boy quickly ran out the front door, veering very far wide of Malik along the way, keeping his distance. Approaching the bar, the large man raised an eyebrow, “Everything alright over there Bart? You do not seem to be very happy… Oh also your problem has been dealt with outside.” The innkeeper barely seemed to notice his words, he was taking several deep breaths, his knuckles going white as he gripped onto the edge of the bench top. “Bart! Can I help at all?”

Finally the man snapped up and looked at Malik, “Oh sorry, thank you for dealing with the problem outside. I am sorry, I just found out some damning news about Theresa… It appears she is not actually sick, she… she… she’s having an affair. That young boy just told me that he spotted her entering another man’s home. I was considering going over there now and doing something about it, but I worry that I will kill them both if I do. I don’t know what to do Malik…” The man placed a large hand onto Bartos’ shoulder, “I will deal with it, you just focus on closing the inn and getting some sleep, alright?” Grateful but exhausted, Bartos nodded his head and began to prepare for closing.

The young boy was still outside as Malik exited the inn, he made a beeline for the boy who stood there petrified as he approached. “Boy, which house is Theresa located at? Tell me now.” Nodding his head in terror, he gave Malik the address, before being allowed to run away. The large man wasted no time, he moved quickly towards the address, many of the drunk men returning to their homes would jump out his way as he moved. In a matter of minutes, he was out the front door. It was a very humble home, one story with some pretty window designs out the front. Taking a moment, Malik heard some muffled giggling and chatting taking place inside. A very familiar woman’s voice could be heard… Satisfied, he kicked the front door down, hearing shouts from inside as it crashed inwards.

Storming in, Malik found the bedroom, Theresa was in the bed with a handsome young man, no older than his early 20s. Looking at Theresa, Malik moved aside and unblocked the door, “Your husband is expecting you, get to him and beg for his forgiveness.” Without a moment to look at her partner, Theresa jumped up, grabbed her clothes and ran out the door. The man was about to jump up as well, but Malik was standing over him in a flash, his large hand holding the man down by the chest. “Now where do you think you’re going?”

The man was positively shaking. “W-w-wait, please do not hurt me! She told me her husband would not mind… I swear I wouldn’t have done that to Bartos if I knew!” So he knew Bartos by name? This man must have been to the Manga Town Inn several times by now. If that were true then he would know how much the innkeeper loved his wife. This man was a liar and Malik narrowed his eyes. “Give me one reason why I should let you live.” The man almost squealed in terror, “Wait!! I can pay you! I have a job to do but I am happy to give it to you instead. It’s a simple delivery, 1,000 ryo now and 1,000 more ryo when completed! Just a few towns over, what do you say? I’ll give you ALL of the reward, I do not want any of it!

Malik smirked, “Very well, give me the ryo and I will do the rest.” The man complied quickly, he was still in the bed, as Malik would not let him leave, but he reached over to the bedside table and pulled the ryo out for him, his hands shaking as he handed them over. “Ok… Now I will give you the information. The delivery is to th-AGHHHH!” He screamed out in pain as one of Malik’s fists came crushing down directly onto his left kneecap, crushing it to dust. The screams continued as he repeated the action onto the right knee, the man was flailing around with tears streaming down his face. Pocketing the ryo, Malik laughed as he exited. “The only delivery I would do for you, is delivering your body to the morgue. Be grateful that Bart did not want you dead…”

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TWC: 3,715

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Claiming 6,000 ryo
Claiming 30 AP

Using 693 WC to claim Dance of the Larch at B Rank (807/1,500) from this post (3,022 WC left)
Using 1,750 WC to claim Dance of the Tranquility Rose at B Rank (1,272 WC left)
Using 1,272 WC towards Armor of Bone at B Rank (1,272/1,500)

Using 1,500 WC to claim 15 Strength (125 Strength including BL bonus)
Using 2,200 WC to claim 22 Speed (84 Speed)

Approved