Description: Coming off of the most brutal defeat of his life, young Muay Thai phenom Olan Kanda travels to the training grounds of the master who turned him away at the beginning of his career. Unfortunately, he finds that the old master's imperious former student is also there, and has no intentions of letting him rest.
The Iron Dragon has been greviously wounded. The worst in his entire life. Pushing himself well beyond the limits, he actually nearly passed away in route to the hospital, and had Baiken not struck him down in such a merciful manner it's likely that he would no longer be amongst the living. After three surgeries and a number of bandages, he awoke to find himself in the hospital. Supporters were there, as was his trainer, but all he did was roar and tear himself free, alarms going off as his IV breaks. Shoving those around like insects away, he staggered through the door and out of the hospital, nearly run over by a taxi before forcing his way inside and grasping the back of the man's head, spitting out a location amongst blood.
It was deep in Thailand's mountains, paid for with a stack of cash worth far beyond. "Do you want me to wait...?" "Go." he huffed out breathlessly. Limping along, grasping the side of his chest, Kanda broke through a clearing and a narrow ravine before finding an ancient training grounds. Wooden practice dummies retained the dents from furious blows, with weights and other simplistic items.
Here. It was here the legend of Sagat was formed, beneath one of the greatest Muay Thai tutors to ever live. Kanda got that chance... and he blew it. The memory of his dismissal burns in his mind to this day, and he has never returned since.
He swore to honor Muay Thai and become it's pride, but it seems he has reached the same end as the man he once admired as much as he desired to rival.
Hobbling forward, a nearby stick is grasped to use as a crutch. Looking at a large stone, roughly hewn into a pillar, there's signs of chips, dents, and cracks. Sagat... did he demolish this, kick after kick...? Kanda has never done such excesses. Hard work may have unleashed his strength, but a series of mundane trainers left him only the fundamentals to master, and nothing more. He was missing a killing weapon. The secret arts. The ability to tap into his chi -- the lack of which, more than anything, got him exiled. Has his chance already passed, years ago...? Sagat's master is presumed dead, after all...
"HRRAUGH!!" Kanda snaps forward, bringing up his leg and kicking the stone pillar. Blood splatters in all directions from his gauzed shin. Trembling in pain, he pulls it back and assumes his stance once more. "GAH!!" Another kick sends more blood. "GAH!!" A brutal one, crack heard as his bone nearly fractures.
And then a last, brutal swing with every ounce of power he has. This time the entire stone column shudders, and a single chip of stone flies off into the air, landing tainted red nearby. "Haa... haa... haa..."
The last year has been a humbling one indeed for Sagat: months after World Warrior, his brief resurgence into the world of professional fighting seems to have fizzled after decisive back-to-back losses against competitors roughly half his age. That goddamn Mishima-produced documentary is still doing the rounds as weekend/evening schedule filling, not to mention streaming and direct download. He had to requisition a new phone after throwing the old one into a wall upon learning of Advice Sagat('LOSE TO ADON/RETIRE IN SHAME').
He's mostly been consumed with training - both alone and in whatever back-alley brawls or seedy arenas he can find - since disappearing(again), but the new year is a fine opportunity to pull away from all of that and retreat to familiar ground--to search for some semblance of meaning in the place where his long and troubled story began.
He's there when Kanda arrives, meditating in a hut overlooking the training grounds; his eye snaps open instantly when sounds of something hitting one of the pillars out there reach his ears.
Peering through the hut's window, he studies the injuried ex-champion as he chips away at the stone and his brow remains furrowed for nearly the entire time. He saw the fight with Baiken, of course; he's still waiting to hear back on his request for /another/ new phone, because the last new one ended up embedded in one of Shadaloo's flatscreens thanks to the ending; it wasn't so much the loss as the way the crowd showered him with such admiration in spite of it.
Even now, the former Emperor's fist clenches as he thinks of the round tables of sharp-tongued 'experts' and deconstructive think-pieces spawned by his post-World Warrior period; a far cry from the passionate support Kanda's display earned him. When the pillar explodes, he lets out a low snarl that he quickly swallows before taking a steadying breath. Fickle audiences aside... the Iron Dragon's potential is undeniable; as long as he can avoid getting himself killed by one-armed sworswomen, a collision between the two is all but inevitable.
This is definitely not the ideal time for one, but short of committing to another comeback, it might be the best chance that Sagat's likely to get for quite some time. There's a definite poetry to saving the first meeting of muay thai's past and future for the middle of a ring, sizing up the competition is too valuable of an opportunity to ignore.
After rising from his lotus posture, the Broken Tiger stalks out of the hut to approach the training ground. "OLAN KANDA!" he roars, stomping towards the bloodied stone chip. "You walk on sacred and forbidden ground, whelp--did you think that this place's emptiness was an invitation to come limping back?" He pauses to stoop and swipe the red chip upon reaching it, then plants himself and folds both arms over his bared scar. He's already dressed for fighting and/or reverence in red and blue muay thai shorts and little else. "That you'd somehow /earned/ the privilege of training here after your failure?" This is followed with a loud bark of laughter.
He's got to see what the kid is made of /some/how; given Kanda's wounded state, trying to get his adrenaline pumping seemed like the most efficient way to get there.
"Unless you're ready to prove my master wrong: find another place to lick your wounds," he concludes once the laughter stops.
Destroy? Oh, no. All the broken Kanda did was slightly damage it, nearly at the expense of his foot. Iron Dragon, indeed. He can barely even chip stone. Such a name was hardly one born of his skills in Muay Thai in the first place, but how well he had mastered taking a blow. Nothing like being called the Tiger of Muay Thai, a ferocious creature with no equal, earned by crushing his opponents with raw skill...
Breath is coming in slow, measured exhales, Kanda someone pale before he looks up to find Sagat approaching. Frozen in place, leaning on the large stick acting as a makeshift crutch, it's difficult to place entirely what might be going through his mind. "I earned nothing." Kanda finally growls, hurling aside his stick and immediately regretting it, as the damage from his foot makes it even harder to stay upright. "Yet how dare you speak of failure...?! You coward." The scathing tone is one said with absolute, vehemently earnest venom. And there's no fear to it. But neither is the boy apparently suicidal. Adrenaline is pumping like mad, the broken fighter literally trembling with rage.
"You... a man without equal... lost only to mercy. MERCY!! And look what it turned you into..." A finger points at the huge scar on the monolithic one-eyed titan. "You should have been happy. Happy your quest for strength... found someone worthy in this lonesome world to some day become a rival." Staggering forward, Kanda is forced to grasp the bloodied stone column he had begun kicking earlier.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I LOST?!" is suddenly roared, and the pain within makes it clear that at no point has this young man gotten used to it. "Dozens... DOZENS... but you. You were my GOAL. My INSPIRATION. I thought you everything... everything Muay Thai stood for!! But then to lose to that worm Adon... how far you've fallen from the man I watched from afar every match. Look at the world of Muay Thai now. Hwa, that insane freak. Adon, an opportunistic vulture. Joe, the crude fool who enjoys mooning, is interim champion while Adon recovers. Due to seniority, I was only third in succession, and he struck down Hwa. I... I could have won...!! And KING. A woman... a woman who turned it into a prancy, flowery DANCE. It is not Muay Thai....!! HOW DARE SHE CALL IT THAT!!"
Doubling over, blood is coughed up, and the shudders are long. "I wished... to replace you. As someone children looked up to... the pride of Thailand instead of the disgrace you became...!"
Sagat's smile grows when Kanda discards his crutch, and despite the hard words moments ago, it's a more or less sincere thing.
It doesn't really last, though, because Kanda has more to say after 'I earned nothing'. A /lot/ more, in fact; the Tiger's ferocious, yet accomodating smile quickly becomes flat-faced tolerance, which lapses into glaring by about the halfway mark. By the end, he's clenching his fists so tightly that they're shaking, and the chip becomes powder in his hand.
"COWARD?!"
The former Emperor resembles a bull more than anything as he snorts and closes in on the wounded Dragon with thundering steps, stopping just a couple feet away. "INSOLENT--YOU /DARE/--" he spits along the way. "You have NO RIGHT to judge me, whelp! NONE!" His arms are at his sides, but his fists are clenched. His muscles are taut and ready for violence, and rage boils in the eye he keeps fixed on Kanda.
The prodigy's words might not have cut so deeply if Sagat weren't so used to hearing some of the nastier ones - in some form or another - in his own inner voice.
"Your brush with the sun has blinded you if you believe otherwise! What do you know about existing at the heights I thrived at, Iron Whelp?! How well do you understand what it means to balance competing with the very best against being the face of your art--being a champion fit for CHILDREN to idolize?!"
And then, the former role model caps his rant off by trying to shove the courageous young fighter who was just coughing up blood.
"WHERE DID YOU LEARN SUCH DISRESPECT FOR YOUR ELDERS, BOY?!"
For all of his menace, all of Sagat's strength, Kanda does not back down. He actually limps forward, step by step. Perhaps it would be an honor, here. To die to the man he still considers his idol. There was a time he had hoped to defeat him and take his place... when he was still strong, before he passed his prime as his old master did, and the mantle was forced to move on to the next. "Thinking you are above judgement... is why you are a disgrace!!" Kanda replies, scathingly. "I speak to you as someone who thought you a God... but I find you now nothing more than a devil!! I waited. Waited for you to crush Adon. Waited for you to return to Thailand. And you did NEITHER. Where are you?! What are you doing, that is more important than your homeland, and your people?!" A hand gestures in the air. "Is it your pathetic vengeance?!"
The shove causes Kanda to stagger and crash to the ground with a painful wince. He's slow to rise then, trembling slowly. "What elder... has ever granted me respect? Since I first saw you fight... I wanted to be you. But your master threw me away. You never looked at me once, even when I attended World Warrior. Only now... do you acknowledge me... as a FAILURE. I am not DONE!! I can see... you are not fit..."
Suddenly Kanda staggers forward, and then twists into a brutal kick, leveraging it hard at Sagat's midsection with a snarl. "TO RECLAIM WHAT YOU LOST!!"
COMBATSYS: Kanda has started a fight here.
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Kanda 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Sagat has joined the fight here.
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Sagat 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Kanda
COMBATSYS: Sagat Toughs Out Kanda's Weakened Fierce Kick!
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Sagat 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Kanda
"I DO NOT ANSWER TO YOU!" Sagat thunders as he charges into the arc of Kanda's strike. The blow stops him for a moment and forces the breath from his body. Even in his weakened state, the Dragon's strength can't be ignored; if he had go back and replay these last couple of moments, he would probably have taken the kick regardless, but he would have at least had the benefit of being prepared for it. He'd listened to his former master's griping about the 'hopeless' young fighter four years, and it colored his perspective as he followed Kanda's progress since then: the potential he'd seen was raw, unforged; the Dragon's style, incomplete.
He knew, of course, that the Kanda was strong and implacable; it took feeling the effects of that determination to gain any real respect for how truly ironclad it is.
Once that moment of shock passes and he's able to fill his lungs again, the former Emperor plants his right foot forcefully forward and tries to seize the younger man in a clinch while roaring, "Thailand will have her true champion when /I/ am ready to return to her! I AM NOT ACCOUNTABLE TO YOU, WHELP!" If he's successful, he'll jerk Kanda into a pair of knee strikes aimed at his ribs, and they'll be closely followed by a savage elbow strike to the side of his head as he screams, "MY PATH IS MINE TO WALK AS I SEE FIT--/MINE/!"
COMBATSYS: Sagat successfully hits Kanda with Fierce Combo.
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Sagat 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Kanda
That felt harder than kicking the stone dummy that Sagat uses to train; he can feel another splinter within his bone from the sheer force repelled by Sagat. He may have hurt him, but his own nearly mortal wounds are exacerbated badly by it, entire leg compromised as a result of attempting to hit the Tiger with all his force within such a condition.
The clinch works, and immediately Kanda begins a textbook defense, grasping back rather than trying to pull away. But he's too weak, and the flinch of pain betrays him. Two brutal impacts of the knee partially cave his chest, before the blow to the temple causes his eyes to lose focus. Blood splatters in the air, and the other man -- nowhere near as huge as Sagat, stockily built though he is -- hits the ground with such a limp, sickening thud that it might be certain he just killed him.
Long enough passes for Sagat to reflect on how much he might /care./
And then Kanda slowly starts to rise, coughing up blood and letting out wet, wheezy breaths. Huge bruises are where each blow hit true. "You /are/... accountable to me... Thailand weeps... and wishes a cha-champion... to be proud of. I... must be t-that person..." Slow as a newborn babe walking for the first time, Kanda is upright and resting his forearms on his knees, blood dribbling from his mouth in a steady stream beyond violent coughs.
"None are worthy but you. And if Thailand... means nothing to you then... what you do now... I shall be the one--!!"
COMBATSYS: Kanda takes no action.
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Sagat 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\0 Kanda
Snorting, snarling, and sucking in air at frantic speeds, Sagat stands over Kanda's crumpled body. Everything is red: the blood on the ground and pillar, the stain in the older one's palm where the chip was crushed, the intoxicating haze that's fallen over his vision. His thoughts.
So much potential wasted. He'd wanted to fire the boy up, to scare - or, more likely, anger - him so badly that he'd be compelled to impress his elder. Kanda's built his reputation up to where it is largely through sheer grit and determination, so the former Emperor sought to test his limits--to see if he was worthy of further attention. /Personal/ attention.
Because Thailand /does/ need a champion, and if not Sagat, why not a student of Sagat's? A /real/ student, rather than a preening jackass.
Given a few moments of relative peace, he thinks of those initial ambitions for the first time since Kanda opened his mouth. A pang of regret bubbles up--and he rushes to remind himself, practically roaring inside: KANDA WAS ASKING FOR IT.
No wonder he was turned away from this place all those years ago; his lack of talent and respect must have galled the old master even more than he knew.
The Broken Tiger is in the process of clearing his sinuses to give the young upstart one last token of his regard when the Dragon begins to stir; his brows arch as he quickly swallows, and his already present glare somehow grows even more spiteful.
"Is that so, little Dragon?" he replies in a low growl. After a derisive snort, he continues, "Had you shown even an ounce of respect, perhaps I would have considered lending you my guidance. You're an impressive talent, despite your--/obvious/--limitations; your eventual ascent to the throne would have been guaranteed."
Cruel, mocking laughter momentarily spills from Sagat as the hateful glare twists into an equally hateful smile.
"Instead, here we are," he then says; the smile remains after the laughter is gone. "Try all you like to claim it now; maybe you'll even succeed! It makes no difference to me--to Thailand. Because once you've struggled, scraped, and clawed your way there--once you've finally had a chance to let the crown settle--do you know what will be waiting for you?"
Instead of waiting for an answer, Sagat tries to catch the Dragon with a forward kick aimed at his chest. He doesn't want to kill the youngster, or even to cripple him; he does, however, want to knock him back down.
"/ME/!"
COMBATSYS: Kanda fails to interrupt Medium Kick from Sagat with Weakened Sok Phung EX.
- Power fail! -
*KNOCKED AWAY*
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Sagat 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Kanda
Respect... the old master never spoke of that. If anything, Kanda was considered too timid and subservient, willing to do anything, admit any failure, too eager to impress. He was like clay, but too soft to hold the honed edges. How he has turned to iron, and with it, the man of four years ago has to be beaten and honed with a hammer to the right edges. In a way, it might make him even more suitable a host...
"Respect..." Kanda states this with reverence, still unable to fully stand. "Do you think... I do not respect you? Hah... hahah... your rage is truly blinding you, Sagat. I am provoking you..."
And then Kanda rushes forward, before snapping down an elbow. The movement is crisp and brutal. One forged through thousands of hours of training, countless battle experience. Within it, the sheer love, effort, and dedication is present -- but not the prodigal talent. It is like a castle built purely out of foundation, but when complete, is stronger than any shortcuts.
"Because there is no greater honor than the man I idolize striking me down with the purest Muay Thai!!"
What destroys him is range. Kanda is hit in the chest, and a huge spurt of disturbingly thick and dark blood erupts from his mouth. The knee strikes crisply through air, before he staggers backwards. Leaning... but suddenly he explosively tenses, and then leans forward, trembling with every muscle as he stays on his feet.
Dying, certainly. But still on his feet.
"I am the only one." Kanda says, trying to draw breath from ruined lungs. "The only one... who wished to fight you at your strongest. The only one... who did not run. Who did not settle for second best. Who did not train beneath you, realize they would never surpass you, and ambush you at your weakest... this is what I want...!!"
He then assumes his stance once more, grimacing as shattered bones are forced. Lifting his forearms and hefting his front leg slightly. "You were correct. I am disgraced. My only pleasure now is to die by your hands. I meant every word I said. But I would not have meant them with such passion... unless I admired you more than any other. I hoped to rise high enough that you would return to Thailand. This... this is sufficient...!"
Sagat keeps his striking leg bent after his foot hits the ground, in case Kanda has more fight left in him. The younger man's assurances of respect don't gain much traction with the former Emperor at first - certainly not enough to keep him from trying to strike the Dragon down - but once he sees that Kanda is determined not to fall and hears more of how deep his appreciation really runs...
He doesn't shift his posture one bit, but he does hold himself back from throwing another attack for now. A glimmer of something other than hate manages to sparkle amidst his bloody thoughts: the opportunity to, if not /guide/ a promising young talent, confront it in its prime and crush it instead of picking someone else's bones; cruel inevitability for Kanda, a test on the way to destiny for Sagat.
"You would be content to die here, now? Having achieved so little...?" the Tiger wonders with an arching brow. He thinks on this for a few moments before swiping a hand dismissively through the air. "I think not," he lowly rumbles, turning away to take his leave. "You've the heart of a warrior, whelp--the will of a champion; to kill you here, at your weakest... before you've had a chance to truly mature...? It would be a disgrace to our art! What purpose, what value would cracking Ryu's skull open have /then/? Finish licking your wounds; chase your championship."
COMBATSYS: Sagat takes no action.
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Sagat 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\1 Kanda
"Achieved little...? That... that is a greater compliment from you... than I ever thought I'd hear." Kanda states, coughing up more blood. "I went from a useless, complacent boy thrown away by my idol's teacher... to one of the strongest Muay Thai practitioners alive. ...And the only one to use it's essence... no tricks. Nothing fancy. Not even... your magnificient chi. ...In four years, to go from an insect to the Iron Dragon... and you call it achieving little?! Hahaha..." He grasps his face, stemming the blood. And truly, Sagat can see, pleased to the very depths of his heart.
"We all have methods of gaining power. And we all have goals. ...I believe you are doing the first, and I cannot blame you. There is nothing left for you in Thailand now. ...But what is your goal, Kru Sagat?" The first honorific he's used. 'Master'. 'Instructor.' Gone is the rage and hate, so fully that it seems it might have truly been the blazing goading of a broken, desperate, and self-loathing man. Apparently, much of that is gone.
"My goal... is to one day surpass you as the greatest in Muay Thai to ever live. Let me show you... that I never intended to run away...!!"
He then attempts to slam his shoulder into Sagat's chest, using a strange darting motion to get past his legs. Within this proximity, even his mighty knee and elbow is locked. But amidst the clinch, Kanda's elbow explodes, trying to hit Sagat right beneath the chin with all his strength. To stagger him, in order to explode into a series of three rushing knees, the last oen lifting him into the air to spiral around and drop a last, explosive diving elbow right atop the massive figure's head!!
COMBATSYS: Kanda blitzes into action and acts again!
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Sagat 0/-------/----===|=======\-------\0 Kanda
COMBATSYS: Sagat endures Kanda's Weakened Tiger Tamer EX.
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Sagat 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Kanda
COMBATSYS: Sagat fails to interrupt Weakened Dragon Tamer from Kanda with Tiger Uppercut.
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Sagat 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Kanda
Sagat hears movement behind himself and glances over a shoulder, expecting to see Kanda struggling to collect himself.
When it turns out that the Dragon is taking a run at him instead, he lets out a howl of wordless shock and fury as he turns to meet the assault. Kanda manages to throw him off with some erratic movement on the way in, allowing the Dragon to slip past his guard and catch him in a clinch that lasts /just/ long enough for him to take an elbow upside the head that screws up his vision and sets him reeling.
Even though there are a few Kandas swirling around each other afterwards - all of them shifting position for knee strikes - Sagat is able to gather his wits about himself well enough to break the clinch with a hard shove that doesn't get him nearly as much separation as he would have liked. He crouches and cocks a fist back immediately afterwards, but the Dragon is able to come back in an catch his chin with a knee strike before he can launch his reprisal. This leaves him crouched, hunched over; the perfect position for an elbow drop.
The impact nearly drives Sagat's face into the dirt, but he manages to hold himself up from the ground with his arms; once Kanda rolls away, he twitches into an upright position and begins picking himself back up, still too off-balance to mount a counter-attack.
"You're /far/ too willing to throw your life away for nothing, if /that's/ your goal," he snarls as he recovers.
"I'm not throwing away my dream. You turned your back on a fight... is it so wrong to try to impress you? I'm not going to let you leave... when you've seen nothing of me but my weakness...!! Mercy has no place in Muay Thai. I started this fight. Whether I survive it or not... is up to you."
And then suddenly Kanda kicks forward once more. Each step splatters blood upon the ground, before he shifts to glide his feet in a half crescent to settle before Sagat. And then leaps high into the air, his greatest weapon held out to bare -- the very tip of his elbow, honed beyond any other part of his body. Once more he drops it, this time billowing with kinetic force, as if the very ground was pulling him down with the force of a meteor. Trying to slam it upon Sagat in the middle of his chest, before hooking into a clinch to begin a machinegun series of knees to the midsection. A building roar leaves him before he attempts an uppercut, followed by another, and then a mid-air exploding knee right at Sagat's face.
From the way he falls afterwards, it's questionable if he's going to manage to land on his feet or in a slumped pile...
COMBATSYS: Kanda successfully hits Sagat with Tiger Slayer.
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Sagat 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Kanda
"Your life," Sagat sharply corrects as he finishes righting himself. "Or is it your goal to be the greatest Muay Thai fighter in Heaven...?"
He adjusts his posture for defense when Kanda moves again, grimacing as his fists come up in front of him. There are no referees here. No medics, no trainers; the longer this goes, the less control Sagat has over the decision of whether or not to spare the Dragon.
Even wounded, his bite is tremendously vicious; the longer Kanda refuses to stay down, the closer Sagat comes to experiencing the unthinkable. Again. /Again/.
Kanda's angle ends up being all wrong for the Tiger: even though he's able to interpose his arms between the incoming elbow and the rest of his body, the blow strikes at just the right point to be driven cleanly through his guard, crushing him back down to his knees and leaving him vulnerable for the ensuing onslaught.
By the end, there's blood streaming freely from his broken nose and his jaw is rapidly swelling. He's still upright on his knees, but he's listing to one side like a mighty willow in a storm. He manages to stop himself from ending up laid out on the ground by bracing his hand there just before slumping all the way over, and once he's caught himself, he forces a deep breath despite cracked ribs--
--and his eye snaps up to the descending Dragon.
With a savage, wounded roar, he forces himself off of the ground, transitioning from his knees into a short, vertical hop meant to intercept Kanda so that he can snare the in a clinch. If he does, he'll only hold on long enough to hurl him the rest of the way to Earth, landing in a three-point stance afterwards.
COMBATSYS: Kanda blocks Sagat's Aerial Tiger Carry.
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Sagat 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Kanda
Grasped while mid-air, Kanda manages to twist slightly, before being hurtled down to the earth. His greatest attack, one he practiced hundreds of times, only staggered Sagat...
But it struck.
He lands heavily in a crouch, sliding on his heels. His ankle snaps, and he collapses to his knee, managing not to show it on his face. The already hospitalized man is at death's door. To go any further, and it might be an irrevocable change. But somehow, there's a sense of satisfaction, and a hand finally raises.
"...I... am satisfied. ...My techniques... can reach you. That... makes every hour, every minute of my life worthwhile. ...If your rage is too great to quench, if I have goaded you too far..." He falls to both knees and then leans forward, pressing his knuckles to the ground.
"Then you may end me, Kru Sagat. And I shall die happy."
COMBATSYS: Kanda takes no action.
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Sagat 1/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Kanda
The Broken Tiger bolts to his feet in a matter of seconds, but his posture remains low; if Kanda gets up /again/, he's ready to pounce and crush him.
Hell, even if he doesn't get up, Sagat looks ready to pounce; his fists shake at his sides as he warily circles the crouching Dragon, snorting the whole way. Part of him doesn't want to snuff a promising young talent before he's had a chance to see how it develop; it's wrestling with the beast that is the rest of him, the howling reminder of the wounds that trying to spare Kanda life has already earned him.
His upper lip curls just so, baring teeth as he takes a step forward... and then the Dragon raises his hand.
And he submits.
That foot remains planted for what seems like an eternity as Sagat weighs options and wars inwardly, but eventually... the rage subsides to a point where he's able to straighten up and drop back from Kanda, keeping his fists up in spite of the change.
"Perhaps one day, I'll grant you your wish," he allows, his voice coming out in a low rumble that's corrupted somewhat by a swollen jaw, "but not here. Not today--not until you've shown me /all/ of your strength."
He doesn't turn his back this time - Kanda did a fine job of re-teaching him that important lesson - but he does back away from the Dragon, intent on leaving him alone on the training grounds. "Recover here, if you like--if you /can/. It makes no difference to me."
"Heh... I have troubled you enough..." Kanda manages to drag himself over to one of the large stone practice dummies, and rest against it. Almost immediately he coughs up more blood, extending his legs and simply settled in a growing pool of blood. "I'll sit here and be silent..." His eyes flutter, before falling shut. "...And... rest for... ...a spell..." His form is already growing more pale. Although he is highly resistant to shock by even the standards of high tier fighters, leaving a hospital after being stabbed badly and then enduring a beating from Sagat is -- well, if Sagat leaves him alone, he is nearly certain to die. Head lolling forward, body going slack. The nearest hospital is an hour away, the very one that he abandoned... it may be his end, regardless of what Sagat desired.
Given a few steps without movement from Kanda, Sagat turns away so that he can pick up the pace.
Given a bit more distance, he grabs a small device from his shorts' pocket, slips it into his ear, and taps a small button built into it.
"This is Invincible Tiger," he growls. "Send a a medical transport and emergency response crew to my coordinates--immediately. You will find a young man there; you are to bring him to the nearest base and care for him, reporting to me and me alone regarding his status. See to it that he survives; your own life depends on it..."
COMBATSYS: Sagat has left the fight here.
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Kanda 0/-------/----===|
Log created on 16:18:17 01/05/2015 by Sagat, and last modified on 19:05:18 01/14/2015.